


Mythical Creature

by LeDiz



Series: The 48: StH 2020 [6]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: But he was right all along, Cryptids, Gen, You called him crazy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23278252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeDiz/pseuds/LeDiz
Summary: They called him Crazy Carl. But that was how these kind of quests always began. And in the end, the hero would always be proven right...!
Series: The 48: StH 2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641913
Comments: 7
Kudos: 120





	Mythical Creature

It was the kind of quest you read about. No one ever believed you could do it. A lot of people thought you were mad for even trying. Conquering a creature fabled in myth and legend, the kind of thing no one quite believed was true even as the facts mounted. Heroes in stories like these were always derided, always the outcast.

Until they found and defeated the creature. Then they would be hailed as the great heroes they were. Saviours. The only ones who could see the truth.

One day, Carl would be hailed as that hero.

His search had begun on a day like any other, when he was hunting foxes out in the forest. He couldn’t even remember how many years ago it had been. All he could remember was the dark trees around him, so close and heavy, blocking out all sound from the town behind. Everything was still, and might have even been peaceful, if not for the menacing silence.

“No birds,” he realised quietly, staring around at the branches above him.

No birds could only mean one thing: either a natural disaster, or a predator.

They hadn’t had an earthquake in town in living memory. It had to be a predator. Probably a big one. Something dangerous. He crouched, preparing to dodge any incoming blow.

But nothing came. The creature, he soon came to realise, was toying with him.

Over the years, he learned more and more about it. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever encountered in all his years of hunting.

First, he found its tracks. They were rare – the creature was crafty and rarely left any. But every few months he would find one or two. Like a human, but with claws and broader toe pads. Carl knew then that he was dealing with some kind of were-creature. A small one, but still. Were-creatures were dangerous – the smarts of a human with the ferocity of an animal.

Once, years into his search, he found a full set of five tracks in the mud, leading away from the remains of a child’s shoe that had clearly been ripped apart. He ran back into town and straight to the sheriff’s office, clutching the shoe and demanding to know of any missing children in the area.

There had been none.

The monster must have taken the babe of a passing tourist. One who never noticed it was gone until it was too late…

Until now, Carl had merely been trying to slake his curiosity. But now… now that he knew the creature had killed… and a _child_ , no less…

Now it was personal.

But no one believed him. No one would listen.

They never would. No one wanted to believe in a child-killing demon living in their own backyards.

So he devoted himself to the search. He set traps. He hunted. He looked for every scrap of evidence he could find.

Until one day… one glorious day… he finally saw it.

Just a glimpse, the first time. He heard a soft, breathy noise, almost like crying, and _knew_. If he was careful, he might save a lost child from a gruesome end. Sneaking carefully, he made his way through the trees until finally, amazingly…

Bright blue, a colour he’d never seen before. Fur. No, not fur… not all of it. Spikes, like a demon.

And then, a sharp gasp, and the demon disappeared.

But slowly, over more years, he saw more glimpses of the demon. Enough, and sometimes even clear enough to make out a proper shape. Sometimes, he felt sure the creature wanted him to see it. Wanted him to know. It wanted to be found. Maybe even made to repent for its crimes.

He told the others in town. Drew a sketch—a perfect likeness!—and showed all the bravest men. He even convinced the sheriff and the deputy to come with him on separate occasions, hunting through the woods where he knew the devil roamed.

But never once did it appear before them.

Soon, the whole town called him crazy. They said he was insane, chasing shadows in the trees.

The sheriff even took his weapons. Locked them up in a safe in his office. “Just for safe keeping, Carl,” the sheriff said. “You ever need them, you just let me know and I’ll hand them right back, okay?”

Crazy. They called him crazy.

But he knew.

And one day, he knew, he would be vindicated as the sanest man in town.

* * *

“Hey, Carl.”

He didn’t look away from the trap he was tying into the tree. The Blue Devil might have been found and proven no danger to the town, but he still had a job to do. “Howdy.”

It appeared beside him faster than the eye could track, looking sceptically up at Carl’s work. “Uh… hope this isn’t for me?”

“’Course not. You’re harmless.”

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment, so thanks,” the devil said. “And uh… y’know foxes and raccoons are more like ground type animals?”

“Not for foxes, neither,” he said gruffly. “This is for a _real_ threat.”

“What, like eagles? They were nasty when I was a kid, but I’ve never seen ’em go after a human.”

Carl looked down at the demon, his eyes narrowing. The Blue Devil had been proved safe enough for people who weren’t evil scientists in doomsday machines, but you could never be too careful. On the other hand, Sheriff trusted it. Sherriff was a good man… even if he still wouldn’t let Carl have his guns. Or chainsaw. Or… any really sharp object… And demon or not, the Blue Devil was _their_ cryptid. That made it worth protecting on some level, anyway.

He whipped out his latest sketch. It was a re-evaluation of an old one, actually – more up to date with Carl’s current work. Smaller, more yellow than grey, to blend in with the sunlight, and no butterfly wings. It zipped through the sky using some strange circular motion with appendages on its back.

“The mothman! It’s coming for us all! Just one whisper of its high-pitched voice is enough to send you mad, if its gleaming red eyes don’t kill you in a single glance!” He knelt down to the Devil’s height, prodding it in its furry chest. “Small thing like you, it could probably swoop up and devour in one bite. You watch yourself, Blue Devil.”

“Oh-kay,” it said slowly. “Got it. You keep doin’ you, Carl.”

“Hmph,” he said, and turned back to his work. _Someone_ needed to keep this town safe.

**Author's Note:**

> The 48 is a collection of unfinished and unedited stories on my hard drive, put on Ao3 for everyone's vague bemusement, including my own. The Sonic 2020 ones are my attempt to complete an old LiveJournal challenge called 15 Tables.
> 
> I should admit that I'm not doing the challenge correctly, for the record. The idea of it was that 14 of the 15 tables were different genres of fic (the 15th was writer's choice), with ten possible word prompts for each. The reason I'm not doing the genres is because A) I have my own style that I'm comfortable with and my days of expanding my skill are well past, and B) one of the genres is smut and dude, I'm just not doing that. It's not me. And especially not for Sonic fandom.
> 
> So we make use of the words and have fun. I hope you're having fun with me.


End file.
